The Guardian
by Denii
Summary: Note: Please read last chapter! From the rubble of Konoha on the day of the Kyuubi attack, Kushina, near death and half crazy with grief, wanders aimlessly through the forest and meets the man with the one-eyed mask. Kushina Alive. Hiatus.
1. Prologue

**The Guardian**

**Synopsis**: From the rubble of Konoha on the day of the Kyuubi attack, Kushina, near death and half crazy with grief, wanders aimlessly through the forest and meets the man with the one-eyed mask.

**AN:** I was just wondering where Kushina was. Perhaps she is just dead, or maybe she is more involved in the story in some way! This was just one idea out of many! Please read and review!

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**Prologue**

There was only one thing Kushina understood at the moment, and it was pain and confusion. Searing, hot sorrow scalded her insides. Images of Minato periodically flashed into her mind's eye—baby in hand, running towards the disaster, on top of Gamabunta, falling to the ground, body limp, hands wrapped protectively around the baby—these images pervaded her mind as it degenerated into a chaotic place of nonsensical thoughts.

She did not notice that she was limping along on a fractured shin, and that several of her ribs were broken. She walked aimlessly through the forest, barely avoiding trees and bushes, crashing into some of them even. Her eyes were as dead and faraway as her mind, leaving her body to run around like a headless chicken.

After several hours, Kushina stumbled upon the company of two men, or rather a man and a creature resembling something of man. She could not comprehend it of course, but she did know something was different about him, with the strange things on either side of his head.

"Hm, what is this?" the strange man said.

"**A woman. Heavily injured**," the same man spoke, but his voice was different.

"Looks like a lost survivor from Konoha," said the other man, the one who looked like a man, except he had no face, just one eye and swirls that came out from it. He cast a cursory glance at the woman and turned away, his mask revealing no thought or emotion.

"Ooh, Let's eat her! She looks yummy!"

Kushina understood nothing that she was hearing. She fell to her knees abruptly, tears rolling out of her eyes.

"**Heh, look, she's cooperating! She **_**must **_**want to die**!"

"I…" Kushina began, recognizing the word 'die', "They…died…"

"Hm? You say something girly?"

"Minato…die…they…died…"

"Minato? Died?"

This seemed to perk up the masked man's interest a bit.

"Minato, our lovely, brave Hokage?" he asked, his tone was flippant but there a trace of annoyance, "That Minato? Of course he's dead…though not without doing something irritating. He was good. Very good. Wouldn't expect less from a successor of Hashirama."

She started to sob, and the tears fell even faster. She pulled at her hair as she let out sorrowful cries accompanied feverish whisperings and mutterings. Sometimes her words were intelligible, "My son…Minato…my son…container…give him back!" She looked up at them, her green eyes set ablaze with renewed anger. "Give him back! I won't agree to this anymore!" She lunged towards the strange man with two voices, "Give Naruto back! I won't let you do this! I won't let you do this to my child!"

"How very sad, let's put her out of her misery!" The man reached out a hand for her, but the masked man suddenly stopped him by pulling him back.

"Wait, Zetsu," the masked man's one eye was set intently on Kushina, "What is it that you want?"

"I want Naruto back! I won't have him become a host…there…must be another way, Minato! Please!"

"So it's your child? You must be his wife then…" the masked man cocked his left slightly, his voice sounding amused.

"My child…" Kushina murmured, looking around confusedly, as if she started realizing the man in front of her was not Minato.

It was then the masked man burst into laughter, slapping his thigh and clutching his chest. "How amusing!" he exclaimed, "What's the Hokage's wife doing all the way out here? Plus, you don't quite seem…functional…"

"So we can't eat her?"

This seemed to shock Kushina out of her numbness, and she suddenly became fully aware. She let out a gasp and clutched her chest when burning pain erupted under her breasts, and both her knees were stinging. Her entire body seemed to be on fire. She looked up and let out another gasp at the sight of the monstrous plant-man in front of her, and an even more terrified sound when her eyes fell on the masked man. Her mind screamed, "Run!" but her body was frozen to the spot, partly from fear and partly from the pain.

"You!" she cried with a raspy voice, "You're the one—" Painful, hacking cough overtook her and she tensed for several moments, trying to get rid of the painful itch in her throat. Blood had come out with the cough.

The masked man regarded her silently for several moments, waiting for her to recover, and then asked, "What's your name?"

She glanced up at him, her eyes wide with fear and suspicion. "You…were the one who…did this…"

He ignored at the accusation and knelt before her, "What's your name? What are you called?"

"I'd rather die," she said in a painful gasp, and spat at him, but he seemed completely unaffected by the gesture.

"Yes, you would…wouldn't you," the masked man said, "But…we'll find out. So your son is the host for the fox? Then for sure he and I will meet one day."

She jumped in alarm at this comment, and every muscle in her body seemed to multiply in pain. "Don't you dare go near him! Don't you dare touch him! Who are you anyways? Why are you doing this?"

"Hm? How rude," the masked man said lightly, "I ask for your name, and you spit at me. Now you demand mine. Have you no manners, little mother?"

"Shut up," she growled, "You won't…get away with this…Minato…" She trailed off at the name as fresh tears welled in her eyes, "He…He's…"

"Dead," the man finished for her, "After a very impressive jutsu that summoned and contracted the Death God, now he is forever suffering there. What a nice reward for sacrificing his everything to save everyone, isn't it? I never quite understood the appeal of heroism."

"You won't get away with this…"

"Oh?" said the man, "I won't? I have many times. But we'll see. We'll see. I've got an idea, little mother, let's do a trade. I give you my name, and you'll give me yours. And trust me, little mother, you _want_ to know my name. Since I asked first, you go first."

Kushina glared at the man. Her breathing was heavy and painful, and the taste and smell of iron was warping her mind and senses. This man was the man who Minato had told her about just moments before he left with the baby…the masked man who was pulling the strings…that's right, she needed to know who this man was!

"Fine," Kushina agreed tersely, "Uzumaki Kushina."

There were several moments of silence before the masked back burst out into another fit of laughter. Kushina looked at him, bewildered and slightly offended, "What...why are you...laughing?"

"I knew it," the masked man said through his laughter, "The boy was named Uzumaki Naruto. Uzumaki! No wonder, the mother is an Uzumaki! Oh, your kind is like a cockroach! I thought I succeeded in getting rid of all of you when I set Rain on Whirlpool, yet you little bug managed to survive! What an annoying infestation…now the kyuubi has been bound…"

"What are you saying?" Kushina demanded, eyes widening in shock at this new information, "What do you mean _you_ set Rain on Whirlpool?"

He ignored her, stood up and turned to his companion, "Zetsu, take her, but don't eat her."

"Why? She anyone important?"

"She is the mother of a host," said the masked man, "She can be quite useful in the future. Plus, she is an Uzumaki. If it is fate, I can play this game too…and mess things up for this disgusting thing called destiny…"

"Don't ignore me!" Kushina cried out angrily, "Who are you?"

"Oh, yes, my part of the deal," the masked man said with an irritated sigh, "I am called Uchiha Madara." He smiled at her reaction, "Yes, I _told_ that you want to know my name."

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AN: Obvious, prologue was short. Please leave a review! It makes me happy, and its good to make people happy!


	2. 1 : Creeping Insanity

**The Guardian**

A/N: First, thank for the reviews/faves/alerts/hits! Really, for my first story here I'm glad, thanks for all the nice comments! Which makes me said to say this chapter is short. I am usually for longer chapters, but for several reasons this came out a bit short (literally and figuratively). However, I promise, promise, other chapters will be longer, richer, and a _lot less choppy_! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1: Creeping Insanity

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The leaky faucet at the foot of her cot infuriated Kushina. The _drip drip drip_ of the ever so rhythmic water droplets slowly grew louder whenever Kushina settled into the dirty off-white mattress of the cot. Her mind raced, hands trembled as the dripping noise slowly, yet surely grated on her sanity. She would grip the edge the cot, bury her face in her lumpy pillow and try to will away the sound. More often than not, she would lose it and jump out of bed, shouting and swearing and then attack the faucet. Sometimes she was successful in her mad passion against the rusty faucet, and sometimes she wasn't, and whoever was charged with her meals would often find her with bloody hands and bloodshot eyes sitting next to the sink. On those days, everyone knew to keep out of room, unless they wanted to lose an ear.

On rare occasions, Kushina was able to keep her sanity, even from the leaky faucets. Tonight was one of those nights. She lifted her pillow to find two, tear stained and crumpled photographs. With a small smile, she brought them up to her lips and kissed them. Kushina looked down at the photographs with such focus as if she would never see them again. One of them was of a sleeping infant, with mousy blonde hair and red, swollen cheeks that had three small whisker-like marks on them. The second photograph was of a toddler, with decidedly spiky blond hair and bright blue, innocent eyes.

"Good night sweetheart," she whispered. To be honest, she did not know if it was morning or night. The three meals of rice, fish and vegetables she was fed did not help her construe the time of the day and it really meant nothing to her after a while. It was morning when she wanted, and night when she decided it was. Since she had not had her sleep, she decided it was night.

"Good night?" a familiar voice said as the door to her room opened. Kushina mentally hissed, put away the photographs and turned to her visitor with a nasty glare.

"Why, little mother," said the masked man, Uchiha Madara, "It's 7 am in the morning."

"What do you want this time?" she snarled.

"Hmmm? You haven't had any sleep yet?" asked Madara, "That's no good. It's time."

"Again?" she asked wearily, "Did you find more scientists with more ears and noses I can bite off?"

Madara chuckled and answered, "Plenty."

"I refuse," she said curtly, laying down on her bed, "I absolutely refuse." She lifted her hands up to the fluorescent light above. She observed the pronounced blood vessels, the syringe and tube scars, the strange lines and cracked skin that characterized not only her hands, but her entire body as well. Even her face had a few scars where strange syringes and plugs were attached.

"Well, that's too bad," said Madara, "Because it's October 10th."

She suddenly sat up and glared at Madara. She snapped, "Stop it. Fine. I'll do it!"

"Ah, a mother's love is such a wondrous thing…" Madara mused. He reached into his bag and produced a photograph. Kushina, recognizing it, lunged at it but Madara pulled back quickly.

"You bastard," she growled, "You promised you leave him alone!"

"Oh, I am," Madara said, "Or else he'll already be with me. But here, if you are good today, I will give you this photo."

"Fine! I already said I'll do it!"

"Good good," Madara muttered, pocketing the picture, watching in glee as Kushina's hungry eyes followed it, "I will collect you in a while. And this time, little mother, try not to tear off the ears just yet." With that, he exited the room and locked it shut.

Outside, Zetsu waited for him. "Madara," said Zetsu, "I hope you're not serious about dealing with her. We can get the kyuubi get easily as a kid. There's no reason to wait."

"No, there is a reason to wait," Madara said with a sigh, "I need the other bijuus to balance the kyuubi alone. Besides, this way, she'll be more willing to cooperate with me."

Zetsu grinned, "Madara, you are cruel using her motherly affection against her. If she knew that you wouldn't go after the kyuubi kid for a while she would refuse outright to participate."

"Yes, but even then she might agree," Madara said, chuckling, "Because as a mother, she would not risk anything. There's nothing more terrifying or stupid than a mother separated from her young."

"On the other hand, what are the experiments for?"

"Hm? The experiments?" repeated Madara airily, "She is being fitted for the Black Ink."

"Blank ink? You mean that—"

"Yes." Said Madara curtly, "Her desire to see her son in the future keeps her alive. And I keep that desire alive by occasionally providing this." He took out the photograph, which showed a small boy, perhaps five years old, looking sadly down at his feet, sitting on a swing in a deserted park. "The sadder the boy looks, the more she is driven to want to see him, the more her desire to live strengthens, so much that she has survived five trials of being fitted. All of them…not quite successful yet, but surviving alone is an incredible feat."

"He looks just like that Yellow Flash boy," Zetsu commented.

"Indeed."

* * *

Kushina felt Minato's light peck on her forehead, followed by the unmistakable scents of cheap, state issued shinobi soap, grass and old scrolls. Surprised, she opened her eyes and saw Minato standing over her, smiling. Numb, she smiled back weakly. She gripped the edge of her cot and then pulled her covers a little tighter around herself.

"How's our little boy?" Minato asked cheerfully, "Is he giving you any grief? Kicking your belly, demanding to come out?"

"No," she answered in a monotone voice, "No, because you took him from me, put a monster in him and left him in the care of your village. The village you trusted. Did you think Konoha is special? Do you think he will not get the same treatment as every host that has come by? You failure of a hokage. You failure of a husband. You failure of a father. You didn't even make sure I would be there for him, you idiot."

Minato kept smiling, like he always did. Tears collected in her eyes, but her expression was cold.

"Go away," she murmured, "I have no strength for this today." She turned away, but she could still feel his gaze. She felt a hand brush her neck, and could feel his hot breath as his lips kissed her throat. It was so real, so agonizingly real. Anger burst in her chest, and she sat up, clawing wildly at Minato and crying, "STOP IT!"

The next moment, she sat on her cot, looking around with weary eyes, completely alone. A few stray tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Awake already, little mother?" The door had just opened.

She threw Madara an angry glare, quickly wiping the tears away, "Stop calling me that you asshole! I have a name!"

"Hm?" said Madara, sounding amused, "I must say the same thing about you. At least 'little mother' is a lot more endearing than 'bastard', 'asshole' or other colorful nicknames you have bestowed upon me."

She only grimaced and looked away.

Madara chuckled, "It's time. Come."

* * *

"Is it okay to do this for the sixth time?" asked the burly, heavily mustached senior scientist, watching as Kushina fell into a deep slumber after an injection.

Madara shrugged, "If she survived five times, why not six times?"

The scientist frowned, "That logic is not quite right. Wouldn't it have been easier to use genjutsu on her?"

"Easier yes," Madara answered, "But draining on me in the long terms. Plus, this is the way I want her used. It will be her filtered will."

"I see," the scientist nodded, "Not quite as young as we used to be, are we?"

Madara ignored him and walked over to the sleeping Kushina. He brushed a few stray strands of red hair out of her face. "She'll survive," he said confidently, "She is an Uzumaki, she'll survive."

"I must ask," the senior scientist started, "About these Uzumakis you talk about. Who are they? I've never heard of them before."

"I advise you to focus on your job," said Madara with an airy sigh, "Lest you should lose an ear."

This shut up the man right away, and he quickly hurried over to Kushina, calling his assistants with him. Satisfied, Madara left.

The senior scientist breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone. He looked to his assistants, all wide eyed and afraid, waiting for instructions.

"Well, get on with it," he muttered irritably, "Strap her in."

The assistants scattered obediently and surrounded Kushina, approaching her with many syringes, tubes and a small bottle of black liquid. A little shake of the bottle made the liquid squirm angrily.

* * *

Minato was fascinated with her swollen belly. He liked to say things like, "Amazing, all we did was do something…instinctual, primitive even, and resulted in a miracle of life that our advanced science and techniques can't mimic!" Then he would kiss her.

"Yes, well nature had to make baby making fool proof," Kushina commented with a wry smile, "Or we'd have gone extinct long ago." Minato laughed at this and lay back onto the bed, releasing a satisfied sigh.

"Let's finish it," he said, looking at her, "We only have a few chapters left. Jiraiya-sensei is coming to visit tomorrow."

"That perv," Kushina muttered, but she was grinning.

"Well that perv is my one and only Jiraiya-sensei," Minato said patting her stomach, "So be nice."

"Aren't I always?"

"Sometimes." He reached for a nondescript little book on the drawer beside him. The cover read, in plain small print, "The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja, by Jiraiya, Sennin."

"Hm, I really liking this Naruto character you know…" said Kushina slowly, settling into the bed more comfortably as Minato opened the book to the earmarked page.

"Me too," agreed Minato, "But…isn't it…like a fishcake that you see in ramen?"

"Well, yeah, but…it's cool," shrugged Kushina, "Especially his character. He's like Jiraiya-san, without the pervertedness."

"Yeah," laughed Minato, "I wouldn't mind if our little Arashi grow up like that…like the hero Naruto, or Jiraiya-sensei without his pronounce pervertedness…"

Kushina grinned, "Maybe we should name him that…"

Minato raised his eyebrows, surprised and asked, "Name him Naruto? Change his name?"

"Yeah," said Kushina, nodding thoughtfully, "I like it. It's a great name, and I'm sure Jiraiya-san will be thrilled."

"Are you sure?" asked Minato incredulously.

"What, you don't want to?"

"No I'm fine, it's just…you liked the name Arashi for so long."

"Naruto is a good name. I do think that it has a good ring to it…and, I would love my son to grow up to be like the character…"

"Haha, alright then…Naruto it is…"

Kushina nodded and grinned broadly at the decision, and the moment froze, and started to melt. Kushina panicked, reaching out for Minato, who seemed to be unaware of the melting surrounding and started reading the book. A second later, the scene changed dramatically.

Gamabunta's large form had suddenly appeared, and she was back again. That night, on October 10th. Again. Again. No, not _again_!

Even though she could not see, she knew Minato's spirit had left them at that moment, and she could hear her baby cry for her, for his father, and cry because of the pain that ripped his little body as the fox was stuffed into him. Even from miles away she could hear it, the howling cry of her newborn, tearing at her heart, and she answered, at the top of her lungs, "NARUTO!"

The scientists all jumped and ran away in shock when Kushina suddenly opened her eyes, crying "Naruto!" The black liquid that was seeping slowly into her through the tubes came bursting out of her, and it was not only through the tubes. The black liquid came out of her nose, mouth, eyes, wounds and bits of it seeped through her skin, making her look like she was covered in some sort of shiny black shell.

"Shit, it failed!" the senior scientist exclaimed, watching in horror as Kushina scratched the black liquid away and struggled at her bondage. She escaped easily, even if they were chains, and jumped onti the nearest scientist.

"Ah, you?" she whispered into his ear, "That made me…like this?" The poor man was scared speechless. She encircled her hands around his neck, "I'll kill you if you hurt my son. Was it you, who gave him hell? You who thought that sealing bijuus in children was a good idea?"

The man shook his head frantically.

"Don't lie," she said, a half crazed grin on her face, "It was you, I know, who took my baby away from me, Minato."

"I-I'm not Minato," the man whimpered.

"I'll kill you…" she whispered, "If Naruto is hurt."

"I'm not Minato!" the man said, a little louder this time.

"If the fox hurts him, I'll strangle you!"

"I'm not Minato, p-please!"

She tightened her hold on his neck. "How can you leave me like this?"

Suddenly, a hand contacted the back of her neck, and she was knocked out immediately. The same hand administered a syringe that put her to sleep.

"Sleep, little mother."

The scientist, tears and snot abundant, having escaped death by a crazy grief-stricken mother, looked up at this savior. Sniffing, he sputtered, "T-thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For saving my life."

The savior, through his one eyed masked, looked down at the man boredly. He said nothing, picked up Kushina and put her back on the bed.

"She survived a sixth time," he said simply, his voice obviously amused.

"Madara-sama, it was so close," the senior scientist whimpered, "I thought we would be successful this time."

"We'll try again in a year," Madara said without looking at the man, "For now, clean her up and patch her. I can use her for other things."

"Yessir."

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AN: Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to leave a comment/critique. Thank you all very much!


	3. The Witch is Clever

AN: Wow, thanks for all the response. I went all sad when my story was de-canonized before it got to take off. However, because I got more support that I expected I felt compel to write something in the same vein.

But sorry, I won't continue this one just yet. :(

IMPORTANT: This is a one shot I've reworked, not a continuation of _this_ story. Similar concept though. It is slightly AU, and honestly that fully developed idea. Just wanted to put it out here for some feedback on it!

Thanks guys. Right now, I'm working on another Kushina centered story with Abstracted that will be released soon. A joint effort!

Again, thank you.

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**The Witch is Clever**

When Kushina breathes, she does not feel the cool wind rushing down her throat, tumbling through her esophagus and lungs and dissolving into her blood. She feels an emptiness that is neither cold nor hot. She feels a hunger that is accompany by no desires to quench it. She walks to go somewhere, but with no mind to get anywhere. She is searching for someone, but she misses no one. She has no sense of time, no sense of direction.

She is dead, only half so.

So she does not understand why she is standing over the bed of a young child. He has spiky blonde hair and dirty cheeks with whisker like marks. She is confused. Who was he?

"Do you feel it?" A silky voice asks from behind her. The witch is beautiful, though that does not affect Kushina. The witch is powerful, and the witch is clever. Kushina is a puppet but Kushina does not care.

Kushina feels a flame somewhere in herself. She feels the warmth of touch, of familiarity, and finally, she is overwhelmed by the heat of recognition. She falls to her knees immediately, throwing her opaque arms over the form of the boy. An agonized cry escapes her.

She knows this boy. She loves this boy, her son, her only Naruto.

"My baby," she sobs, "Oh Naruto." Her tears that falls on her cheeks does not wet him, but disappears in small glow of blue.

"He is alone in this world," says the witch. Her voice is gentle and soothing.

"Why am I here?" asks Kushina, "I've died, haven't I? I've died?"

"No, you haven't. You, or a part of you, are preserved in your son," said the Witch, "Do you not remember?"

"No—yes…I don't know."

"He needs you," says the witch calmly.

"I know," Kushina moans sorrowfully, "I know. I want to so much…but…I am…"

"I can make it happen," offers the witch, "I can give you physical form."

Kushina turns to the witch, sniffing and wiping her pale tears. The witch is smiling.

"H-how? I'm dead!"

"I know what will come, and I will make it happen," says the witch, predictably enigmatic.

"What do you mean?"

"You can see your son again with physical form!"

"How? Who are you?" Months she had known this witch, and only now she is curious. She is not so empty now.

The witch answers in a hollow voice, "I am the darkness driven from the one who can be God. I am his sin, and I am his punishment. I am the shame, I am the revenge."

"What?" mutters Kushina irritably, "What does that mean?"

"I am your salvation," finishes the witch with a tempting smile.

"But this isn't free," says Kushina, narrowing her eyes, "It never is, is it?"

"Never," the witch confirms, "I require payment."

"And what's the payment?"

A faint smile on the luscious lips. "I require your inheritance."

Kushina blinks. "Come again? My what?"

There is a rush of wind and the witch appears right in front of her Kushina and she gasps. The witch leans in close, putting her mouth to Kushina's ears. She whispers, "I require your inheritance and my revenge. I require the legacy before you, the legacy you are, and the legacy you've left." She pauses. Kushina's eyes are wide, and she is shaking. The hatred that seeps into the witch's harsh whispers stuns her.

"In return…" Kushina says, her voice trembling, "I…"

"You get to be alive for your son. You get a physical body."

"You can do that?"

"I can see the past, present and future. I can promise you a body."

Kushina breathes in and out, slowly and heavily. She shakes, her mind was swirling but there were no thoughts, just one desire, and the desire to accept. But there is doubt...

"What_ is_ my legacy? I-I don't understand." she asks, "Why do you…?"

"Does that matter?" asks the witch, "More than the son who desperately needs you? A son with your curse. You know how it feels. What is too much for your son's happiness?"

Kushina looks at the sleeping child. Her eyes water and she bites her lips.

The witch repeats, "What is too much for your son's happiness?"

She lets out a sob and answers, her voice full of sorrow, "_Nothing_."

The witch is vengeful and the witch is deceptive.

Sixteen years in the future, a summon that Kabuto never expected appears in front of him. Walking out of the coffin, Uzumaki Kushina frowns confusedly around. She looks down at herself and notices she has a full body, and she neither feels joy or sadness. She looks up at Kabuto as the young man smirks.

"So," says Kabuto, "You are here, finally. I couldn't get you at first, but now you are here." He grins. "Kushina-san, you and I have quite a task ahead of us."

_The witch is clever.

* * *

_

I would really really love feedback on this. Like a said, it is an idea kind of floating in my mind and I just need a bit of...input on it at this stage. If I do ever do this story, it will be much much more fleshed out.


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